1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to an improved grapple boom configuration for a skidder and in particular a grapple boom configuration that is adaptable for multiple usages without disassembly and specifically, a grapple boom configuration which allows the skidder to be used as a grapple skidder, and, when the grapple is pinned to the upper end of the boom out of the way of the winch and cable, as a cable skidder.
2. History of the Prior Art
Typically, a skidder vehicle is designed for operation in two modes. As a cable skidder, the vehicle plays out a length of cable from a winch attached to a skidder boom. A number of shorter choker cables attached to the outer end of the cable may, in turn, be secured to individual logs. A plurality of logs may then be dragged up a slope or out of the woods into a cleared area by activating the winch to draw up the cable. After a number of logs have been gathered into piles of three to six logs each, the cable skidder can then be converted to a grapple skidder wherein a grapple mechanism is mounted on the boom in pivotable engagement therewith for gathering individual groups of logs to a central location.
In the typical example of the prior art, once the logs are gathered by the grapple skidder, the grapple mechanism must again be detached from the boom so that the skidder vehicle may again operate as a cable skidder. In some cases the cable skidding boom and the grapple skidding boom are different and in other cases the same boom is used in both the cable skidding and the grapple skidding mode of operation but a separate grapple mechanism must be attached to the boom before the skidder vehicle can operate as a grapple skidder. The present invention offers an improved grapple boom configuration which permits the grapple to be rotated out of the way when it is desired that the skidder vehicle be operated as a cable skidder. The grapple is retained in an out-of-the-way position by engaging the grapple arms above and atop the boom arms and securing the upper end of the grapple and the upper end of the boom in pinned relationship.